attack of the killer zucchinis!

So, right now I have a huge, and I mean HUGE, pile of zucchini on my kitchen counter. With all of my produce coming on full force right now, I have sort of been neglecting it. I needed to get motivated to do something with all of it, so today I decided to pull out a couple of my favorite recipes for using shredded zucchini. I hope that someone else can make use of these and enjoys them as well. I might just have to print off a couple of copies of these recipes and attach them to some zucchini's and do a drop off to some of my neighbors...;)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup salad oil (you can substitute 1/2 of oil by using the equivalent in apple sauce)
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup finely chopped or sliced almonds

Beat eggs with sugars, oil and salt. Mix in all dry ingredients until well blended. Fold in the nuts and zucchini until evenly incorporated. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans or 1 greased bundt pans. For a nice touch you can sprinkle extra nuts into the pan before pouring the batter in. Bake at 325 for 50-65 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes, and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. It is also good with a nice chocolate glaze on top for an extra nice dessert.



Zucchini Spice Bread/Cake

1/2 cup prepared orange juice
3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini

Beat eggs, oil, juice, sugar and extract. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add in zucchini and mix well. Bake at 350 20-25 minutes for cupcakes, 35-45 minutes in loaf pans or 9x13 pan, or until knife inserted comes out clean. Cool and frost if desired.

Frosting:

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar

in a sauce pan, cook the brown sugar, butter and milk over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool and then beat in powdered sugar to spreading consistency.